Gallery 31 Exhibits ‘Piece of Mind’ Curated By Harlesden High Street

Image by Hiba Hassan from Gallery 31

It should have been a pivotal moment when Gallery 31 exhibits an art show by Harlesden High Street called Piece Of Mind, which aims to celebrate the ‘ungentrified’ neighbourhoods of London and provide resources for underrepresented artists. During its opening press night, the area was bursting, and a wave of enthusiasm was filling the air as you stepped into the building. Though, it felt like merely a space to prove just how gentrification works. From the offset, an exhibition that claims to celebrate a ungentrified area in London will prove to be conflicting because in 2022, is there really any place that is not yet gentrified, even to the smallest degree?

North West London. The latest victim to London’s ever-growing gentrification developments that clearly dissolve the generations of communities built in all corners of our city. It has been an issue that has overtaken many of its residents' thought processes in the last few months due to the blatant deviations in our area.

London has always prided itself on the diversity we obtain, the many walks of life we, our parents and grandparents have taken all over the globe and have landed us as neighbours. So, when our neighbours begin to change and our livelihoods are no longer the same, there is a gut-wrenching feeling that we are being caged into our homes or being pushed out of the city.

Image by Hiba Hassan at Gallary 31

Curated by Lucía Ríos González and Jonny Tanna, it seems as though the curators may have missed the description of their exhibition and the area they are presenting. As you walk into the intimate space, there is nothing that feels like Harlesden. Drawing in and focusing on a bedroom that wants to evoke the space of a ‘hypothetical’ worker of late capitalism. But what is a hypothetical worker in Harlesden? An area that consists of mainly working-class families that are in fact, working.

The title, Piece of Mind explores the challenge of resting, and its psychological effect on these intimate spaces, from working long hours and social currency, to using meditation and other new-age practices, we must rest…

However, if you grew up in the area or any borough of London, the Westernised influence of meditation and mindfulness is a seriously lacking factor within our communities and are practices that have been adapted due to the gentrification of our spaces.

Presenting a range of multi-media projects from Ocean Baulcombe-Toppin, 雅 YA + Casandra Burrell, Farrah Riley Gray, Tyreis Holder, KO___OL, and Anna Sebastian, all talented artists in their own right. But it was only Ocean who has a true connection to Harlesden, which was another confusing aspect of the exhibition, shouldn’t Harlesden’s many talented residents be showcasing their work here?

The exhibition seemed to have missed the vital aspect of why it was curated, and really only did a singular thing, proving that Harlesden is in fact a gentrified space.

01 Apr - 17 Jul 2022 | Mon - Sun 10.00 - 18.00

Free entry | Tickets here | Located in the New Wing of Somerset House

Artist Biographies:

Ocean Baulcombe-Toppin (b.1996, Harlesden) is an artist who researches what it means to 'be' through gentle and meditative practice. Embedded with personal, historical and theoretical material, she works butterfly-like to create a contemporary philosophy inspired by her spirituality, heritage and rituals for solace. Recent exhibitions include Harlesden High Street, the South London Gallery, and the Freud Museum.

Website | Socials

雅 YA (she/ her), (b.1994, Singapore) works on the vision of fiction as a modern language to explore self-reality and social existence. Her “An Everyday Thought” series is a realisation from 雅 YA's journal of everyday reflections and visual responses as a third person looking in.

Website

Casandra Burrell (b. 1991) Casandra Burrell is a self-taught artist whose main practice involves airbrushing t-shirts at her local store in Cleveland, Ohio. She occasionally participates in projects and helps design promotional images for exhibitions for artists' work for Harlesden High Street.

Farrah Riley Gray (b. 1992) graduated in 2019 with a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University and was the recipient of the Christine Ridley Award. Her work is held in the collection at the Constance Howard Gallery and has been exhibited and performed in the UK at institutions including Horniman Museum, Craft Council, Wellcome Collection and Deptford X.

Website

KO___OL is an audiovisual & conceptual artist living and working in London. He’s exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, WAB Artfair Barcelona x HH and Harlesden High Street. He has created visual work for Mercury winner Moses Boyd, Skip 2 My Lou (Linea Rossa), composer Klein and Josiane M.H Pozi. He is an ongoing DJ host and programmer at NTS Radio.

Anna Sebastian (b.1990, UK) is a painter and draughtsman drawing on images from science fiction and myth. She previously studied at Goldsmiths College and the Royal Drawing School and has exhibited internationally at the Homesession Gallery, Barcelona Ghetto Biennale, C&C Gallery and Gallery 46.

Website

Tyreis Holder is an artist, poet and visual storyteller from South London, with heritage reigning from Jamaican/St Vincent. She works heavily in mediums pertaining to installation, textiles, performance, poetry, sculpture and sound. Her practise centres around explorations of self and identity, the relationship with the mind, particularly with regards to navigating colonial spaces.

Website | Socials